Brett Chedzoy Receives SFL's Service Award at Annual Meeting

The recipient of the service award for the Southern Finger Lakes chapter is Brett Chedzoy. Brett has been a NYFOA member for over 25 years, and has
ably served as SFL secretary for the past eight. Over this time, he has
been a steadfast participant, record keeper, and organizer within the
chapter steering committee, and he and his family have graciously hosted
a number of chapter woodswalks and
social events. Never one to be at a loss for words, Brett has also
usually served as the chapter’s default master of ceremonies.

Brett’s background and training as a forester have been
invaluable to the chapter. He has always proved willing to share his
wealth of knowledge and experience with
the steering committee and chapter at large, and despite the challenges
of promoting
long-term, sustainable forest management to a public that all-too-often
is primarily concerned with maximizing short-term profit, he has done so
with a consistently positive attitude, and with a good sense of humor.

In addition to volunteering his time with NYFOA, Brett works as a
regional extension forester for Cornell, is a regional director of the
Master Forest Owner program in the Southern Tier, and
somehow also manages to find time to be a successful livestock farmer,
an innovator in the practice of silvopasturing, as well as an active
steward of his own woodlot.

In promoting NYFOA’s mission, he clearly leads by example, and
sets a high bar for the rest of us. The Southern Finger Lakes chapter is
glad to have him, and we are pleased to present him with the service
award for 2017.